Puppy Love
by Kirsten D
Summary: Pogue Parry had a goal to complete at lunch time. "Pogue was sure his heart was going to fall out of his chest. Yes, he would definitely keep his promise to be her friend if it meant to see her smile like that every day." One-Shot.


A/N: Someone asked for a 'how Pogue and Kate met' story and here it is. I don't think this is what they had in mind but hopefully it's still good. This was also supposed to be out for that Pogue Parry challenge waaaaaayyyyy back but I never got around to it. But here it is! Better late than never.

**Puppy Love**

Six year old Pogue Parry sat in his assigned chair in the back row of the small 1st grade classroom. His name was neatly written on the top of his desk with little gold stars decorating the top of his name for his good behavior. He was second in getting the most gold stars, while his best friend Caleb was first. His blue power ranger backpack was slung over the back of his chair and a brown paper lunch bag filled with his favorite foods was nestled safely under his desk, ready to be eaten when the time came.

Today was a Friday and Pogue had a feeling that it was going to be the best day ever of his life. He always looked forward to Friday's because of the weekend, but this Friday was different. This Friday was the day he was going to set a very special plan in motion.

Pogue kicked his legs out in front of him and sighed for the zillionth time that week. His eyes peeked out from underneath his brown bangs at the girl who sat across the room brightly chatting away with her friends.

Pogue was fascinated by the girl from the first time he saw her. She went by the name "Kate" and had large, round brown eyes and matching dark brown hair. Her long hair was usually pulled back into two braided pigtails with pink bows tied to the ends.

He had never seen anything so perfect looking in his whole life and had wanted to be her friend since the first day she had come to class. From the moment she stepped foot into the room she was popular. Everyone wanted to be around her and loved talking to her—including Pogue, but he never got the chance. He wanted to get to know her, but with so many people around her all time he could never get a chance nor work up the nerve to say hi.

He had tried numerous amounts of times before to talk to her but just couldn't find the courage. Pogue would get close enough to her to say hi every day during recess, but then, she would turn and smile, her pudgy cheeks forming dimples, and Pogue would get this weird feeling in his stomach, which his mommy had said were butterflies (which he didn't understand because how did butterflies get into his stomach?), and he would turn and run away.

But today was the day. He was tired of running; he wanted Kate to be his friend. Pogue had been gathering the courage, with the help of his best friend Caleb, coaching him and giving him pep talks throughout the day.

"Don't be nervous. She'll be lucky to have you as a friend." Caleb would say almost every day to perk Pogue up when he would get nervous about speaking with Kate.

"Don't give up. Keep trying." He would say to cheer Pogue on whenever he felt like giving up on his mission to be Kate's friend.

Pogue bounced his leg nervously as he looked at his teacher and then out the window towards the playground. Wasn't it lunch time yet?

It was a nice day and their teacher had promised them that they could have lunch outside at the picnic tables. He saw this as his chance. He may never get another chance like this again and he was excited and nervous all at the same time.

Pogue had made it his goal to get a seat next to Kate, have lunch with her, and ask her to be his friend.

"You don't stand a chance, Pogue." A high pitched voice interrupted Pogue's thoughts.

Pogue looked over to see the shock of bright blonde hair that belonged to his not so close friend, Reid. "Kate will never be your friend. She doesn't make friends with loooosers…"

"Shut up Reid!" Pogue shouted at Reid. He was nervous enough as is; he didn't need Reid making fun of him for wanting to sit with Kate.

Reid glared at Pogue for shouting at him, while Tyler, on his right, gave a shudder and a "yuck" at the mention of girls. He had yet to see why his friend Pogue was so fascinated with Kate.

"Leave 'im 'lone Reid." Caleb gave a push at Reid, trying his best to protect and ensure his friend with his usual pep talk. "Don't listen to 'im, Pogue. She'll be your friend."

And as much as he wanted to believe it, the usual butterflies began to fly around in his stomach and he began to doubt himself once again. He gave his stomach a hard slap in effort to get those butterflies to calm down. He glanced over at Kate, who was no longer surrounded by her friends. She sat quietly at her desk, picking away at the gold stickers. Pogue wasn't used to seeing that and he didn't think it was fair. Kate should be surrounded by her friends all the time. Friends that would make her smile, because she had such a pretty smile…and a nice laugh.

Pogue nodded to himself, the butterflies had finally settled down in his tummy. From this day on, he would promise to be Kate's friend. He would be the one to talk to her and make her laugh so she wouldn't have to be alone for one second and he would be the one to make sure she's smiling when no one else was around.

The teacher stood up and a hush fell over the classroom. "Okay, I know everyone is anxious to get going, so grab your lunches and form a line."

Chatter broke out across the classroom and the sound of chairs being pushed back filled the room. Everyone rushed towards the front of the classroom where the teacher stood waiting.

"One neat line and then we can leave." She announced as the children forced their way into a makeshift line.

"Hey!" Caleb shouted and pushed the boy who dared cut in front of him. "No cutting in line, Aaron!"

Aaron Abbott, the 1st grade bully, turned around and sneered at Caleb. "I'll do whatever I want, Caleb."

Caleb glared at Aaron and gave him a hard shove out of the line, making him stumble and fall on his behind.

Laughter broke out across the room as everyone laughed at Aaron who was quickly getting up from the floor and began to take a lunge at Caleb.

Before Aaron could make a move the teacher had stepped in. "Aaron, you know the rules, back of the line."

Aaron turned and gave Caleb one last sneer and a threat to get him back later before grudgingly heading to the back of the line.

Caleb smirked, "You wish, Aaron."

Pogue watched Kate make her way to the front of line, as she held her bright pink Barbie lunchbox in one hand. His eyes widened and his breath caught as he watched her turn around to smile and wave at him. He felt his cheeks grow hot and he looked away quickly.

Once everyone was in their place they gradually made their way out the door and to the playground where the picnic tables sat under the trees and in the shade.

Once the group of 1st graders passed the entrance to the playground, everyone broke out into a run to get their preferred seat.

Pogue couldn't see a thing. Everyone pushed at him as they tried to make their way to the tables. He tried his hardest to get to the front where he knew Kate was, but everyone was faster than him and he had never been the fastest runner in the class.

Finally, he reached the picnic tables and most of everyone was already seated. His breathing was heavy as his brown eyes searched through the large group quickly looking for a seat that would be open next to Kate.

Pogue's mouth pulled into a sad frown. His bottom lip trembled and his eyes watered. He gripped his lunch bag tightly in his left hand as his shoulders sagged in defeat.

There was no seat available next to Kate. Pogue wiped angrily at his face as he looked at the ground and kicked at the dirt below him. He slowly made his way over to his friends where he knew a seat would be waiting for him, not noticing chocolate brown eyes that belonged to a certain pigtailed girl follow him.

"Where's your 'friend' Pogue?" Reid laughed at Pogue, taking obvious joy in his friend's loss.

Pogue just looked at Reid, too sad and disappointed to say anything back.

Caleb glared at Reid, sticking up for his friend. "Shut up, Reid."

Reid rolled his eyes and took a huge bite out of his pb&j sandwich "Who would want to be friends with him anyway?"

"I would like to be his friend."

Pogue's breath hitched and his eyes widened as he turned around to see Kate, only to find her looking at Reid.

Pogue took the opportunity to take a quick glance at Reid, whose mouth was currently hanging open, his chewed up pb&j on display for all to see.

Pogue swiftly turned back around and glanced up at Kate, "Really?"

Kate smiled, her dimples forming in her cheeks. "Can I sit with you?"

Pogue nodded with a huge smile and scooted over to make room for the pretty girl.

His heart quickened as she moved closer to him to sit beside him and reached for his hand. A deep blush spread across Pogue's cheeks as he looked down at their joined hands. He looked up at her shining brown eyes.

She smiled sweetly and tilted her head to the side. "Would you like to be my friend?"

Pogue gulped and briefly wondered if this was a dream. Maybe he had fallen asleep during class and he was just dreaming. He briefly wondered if he should pinch himself to see if he would wake up.

She smiled and giggled as she waited for Pogue's answer. And Pogue decided if it was dream he would at least finish and see how it panned out.

He slowly nodded his head and watched as her smile brightened and she gave his hand a squeeze. Pogue was sure his heart was going to fall out of his chest. Yes, he would definitely keep his promise to be her friend if it meant to see her smile like that every day.

Caleb gave him a thumbs up and a wide grin from behind Kate.

Pogue gave a nervous laugh and noticed that she didn't let go of his hand, and he had no problem with it. He was completely content to sit and hold hands with his new friend.

"Ugh, gross." He heard Tyler complain from across the table but did not care. He could not be any happier than what he was at that moment.

Yes, today was definitely the best day of his life.

End.

A/N: I hope that wasn't creepy. I tried to make it sweet and innocent. Hope I succeeded. Let me know what you think!


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